The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan: Book Review

It’s show time.

The battle between the Olympians and the Titans, thousands of years in the making, is finally here.

Kronos has had ample time to prepare his plans while Zeus and company have been having their own quarrels and parties. He strikes at multiple fronts, almost simultaneously, and no one knows what his true objective is. Percy knows that it can only be Olympus, the seat of the gods’ powers. No one will really listen to him though, so it falls to the Half-Bloods to guard Olympus against the worst that Kronos can throw at them.

This book takes a decidedly darker turn than the others. It begins with a death and doesn’t get much brighter from there. That’s not to say that it’s depressing, exactly, but it’s definitely more serious. The campers are injured and killed right and left and it seems that there’s no possible way they can withstand Kronos.

Percy himself makes a choice near the beginning that had me worried for him throughout the book. This move didn’t work out so well in classical mythology, so I was worried about its impact on Percy as well.

Annabeth is still insanely jealous, but she’s doing her best to move past it and support Percy. And she’s just Annabeth with all her mad skillz and plans. Love. Her.

But, while I’m talking about them, they definitely felt older than 14 or so. Maybe Harry Potter conditioned me to think that the last book should be about 18-year-olds, but everyone feels a little too grown up and mature and serious.

I never read series books back-to-back because I tend to get a little sick of the characters, and the small explanations of what went on in earlier books drive me crazy because they feel repetitious. I made an exception here. I just had to know how everything was going to wrap up, so I finished Battle of the Labyrinth and immediately went to The Last Olympian. Yes, the series is that good.

There were elements of the Trojan war here, worked in in surprising ways. I adore the way Riordan pulls this off.

Oh, one other thing. The gods were not really all that great in classical mythology. They did whatever they wanted with little thought for the impact on mortals. That aspect of them is picked up in this final book.

Prometheus makes an appearance here and I was very disappointed in him. I’ve always liked him and felt bad for him, but he irritated me this time around.

Overall, a very strong finish to a series that I loved. Highly, highly, highly recommended.

Read an excerpt.

Read my reviews of the rest of the series:

• The Lightning Thief
• The Sea of Monsters
• The Titan’s Curse and
• The Battle of the Labyrinth.

Find author Rick Riordan on his website, his blog, Twitter, and Facebook.

Buy The Last Olympian at

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